There’s something to be said about concept albums: most of them suck and are far-too vague. About once a year, we’ll come across a concept album that really does it for us both musically and, of course, conceptually. If the music is good and it sounds good, we’ll listen, but the fact that there’s more to be gained from it can give it a significant boost. In 2011, that album (if it can be so-called) was The Color Spectrum by The Dear Hunter, for painting a clear and vibrant picture of all the colors represented by its various EPs.

Before that, in 2010, we stumbled upon Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell. Billed as a “folk opera,” that was plenty to get us to give it a spin, but further reading led to surprise after surprise. It’s uncanny how many buttons of ours Mitchell was able to push with the re-telling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice set in a depression-era America, especially with the inclusions of artists like Ani DiFranco (as Persephone) and Greg Brown (as Hades) to really bring it to life.

She earned a fan with that one – and hopefully many more, and though Out of Treble is on a bit of a vacation as its editor (and only present contributor) is also on vacation (until March 13), everything ground to a halt with the discovery of a new album, Young Man In America. The album came out in mid-February, and has prompted said editor to include Mitchell in future social networking circles so as not to miss another release such as this one.

After listening, in hindsight, the month without this album would have benefited with it. Were it no for a relaxing and thoroughly happy vacation, learning of the missed time with this album would bring tears. Actual, salty tears of doom and gloom. Though this is somewhat of an exaggeration, we’re quickly feeling like Young Man In America is one of the better releases of 2012 thus far.

Listen – Shepherd

While not a concept album in and of itself, Young Man still has roots in story-telling, and was apparently inspired by the recession, according to Mitchell. Those themes are definitely prevalent throughout, with uncertainty and insecurity dominating most of it, but presented as a group of friends just … making good music. That’s breaking the fourth wall of the message, but it’s not far from the truth – Mitchell consistently has multiple artists on board, and the highs and mids give off this definite “campfire” feel without really playing that “kind” of music. The lows are just about non-existent and can be described as “subtle.” She describes the concept best herself:

There’s a lot of characters that speak on this. There’s a lot of stories, but it’s not a concept record. It’s more of a collection of short stories that belong in the same book.

But again, we get back to the theme. It’s orchestrated beautifully, with subtle jabs being taken at modern culture while somewhat lamenting the loss of the very recent past, which some would still call “modern.” An exercise in illustration, without at all feeling preachy or anything like that. There’s dual meanings around every corner, and look no further than “Shepherd” for the biggest one. Is it a religious song, or is just rural? You can decide, because it’s not Mitchell’s job to preach to you.

Musically, it’s equal parts PJ Harvey and Frank Turner, with masterful instrumentation backing Mitchell’s voice that is both child-like and boisterous in equal parts, if that makes any sense. You’ll likely enjoy her voice immensely, and if you give it plenty of time to digest, you’ll enjoy the message, as well. At its core, the album is a beautiful portrayal of emotions and aspects of modern culture that may not be quite as beautiful, lacking the flaws to actually create a perfect comparison. You’ll just need to give it a listen, but this one is right up their with the latest offerings from Ani DiFranco, Leonard Cohen and First Aid Kit in regards to folk quality.

Listen and watch the video for “Coming Down” and buy the album here.

Image courtesy of  Marian Call, under CC Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 2.0